Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1887-02-18

error.
The record in this case presents for
our discussion the following PROPOSE
tions of law
First, can prisoner be cxtraditcd
upon charge Of felony, which is tn,
carving on "A Swindling game of bunc,
and twcnty-onc, and he tried and con
victed upon the charge of carrying ON
the game OF tWcntv-onc or tOp-and-
bottom dice and swindling man
thcreat?
Second, can man he convicted oi
a felony under an Indictment, which
charges that defendant and another
conducted the swindling game OF
twentv-"nc, or top-and-hott"m dice
without description of the otfcnsc by
any words other than those naming Il
came stating no acts which constitute
the oifcn;c?
Third. can a prisoner he convicted
Of any felony under such charge in
the Indictment?
Fourth, ii ihc jury in such a case
bring in Il verdict of guilty as chargfo
can tllc court enter judgment for car
ring on the swinCling game Of top
and-ho' tom-dicc emitting the words
"twcn,v-onc"?
Fifth, can Il prisoner be convicted
on any Indictment where he has duly
challenged the grand jurors upon the
admitted fact that four of them who
found The bill We're mnrricd Womcn
living and Keeping house with their
husbands?
A. to the first point, We think that
each Of the States are sovereign as to
each other, in all respects, as one for
cign nation is to another, save and ex-
ccpt in those particulars which each
State has surrendered to the United
States.
Each State has surrendered its right
to make treaties and war to the Govern
mcnt of ihc Uni,cd States.
Ii a prisoner is extradited from one
State to another, it is done not through
ihc terms of treaty, .hc breach Of which
is to be punished by war or revolution,
hut through 'hc comfy and pleasure
of each State. There can be no power
of one State brought against another
to force extradition.
This comfy OF States is exercised
with great libcrality and without the
jealousy which controls foreign nations
as 10 each other. This comfy, by long
custom, has become a quasi internd-
HonaI law as between the States.
The courts of State will not dis
charge prisoner thus extraditcd cx-
cept upon the ground of fraud or i'm
position.
A false pretensc that a man is re-
quircd for one thing, when i'll truth
and in fact he is wanted for quite an
other thing, is fraud, and in such a
case the court would presume that
the executive had been imposed upon
and upon an advantage being attempt
cd as the fruit of such fraud, would
discharge The prisoler.
In this case the oifrnse mentioned
in the rcquisition aud the Indictment
are so similar that no presumption of
fraud can arise. l conclude, there
fore, that the prisoner ought not to
have been discharged upon this
ground.
As to the second point: The stat
ute under which the prisoner was CON
victcd divides illegal games into two
classes, the iirst-class being mistle-
meanors, the second felonies.
Among the class of games which
are mentioned by name as misdemcan,
ors is the game of twenty-onc.
The game of twenty-onc is not men.
,ioned among those games which are
declared feionies.
Top and bottom dice is not men
toned as game which is either Il mis-
demeanor or felony.
If The game of twcnty-one is to bt
punishable at all, it being specially
mentioned as a miSdcmcanor and not
Il felony, can only be punished as Il
misdemeanor, and a conviction Of fel-
ony is illegal.
The offcnsc is not defined by the
statute except by the name of tho
game. What acts constitute the Of
fense are not stated in the statute.
am OF the opinion that, when word
| HIS dII iCCtItttl
ing as fixed by the law, or by the Eng
lis language, it is sufficiently dciinitive
| of itself without further statutory def
| finion, such as the word l." adultery" oi
the like; but word which does not
convey fixed or ascertainable mean
ing in law, or in English, is not suili
cicntly dctinitive to create a crime. A
law is a rule of action prescribed. \
word which has no fixed meaning can
not constitute rule of action, for the
connotation is not definite nor does il
prescribe, either to the public or tho
| courts. what acts are or are not crlml
nal. The words top-and-bottonl
dice" signify no class of actions whicl
can be known by the public or tn,
courts, besides that game is not de
nominated an oficnsc. What neither
the courts nor the people can under
stand was probably not understood b,
the LEGISLATURE. and though it intend
ed to use the words it had no definite
idea of their exact meaning.
1t requires certain particular acts t'
constitute each crime. The word,
used in this statute in no way inform.
us of what class of acts there are whicl
constitute top-and-bottom dice" no
twrnty-onc." 1t may or may not bt
possible that some scientist i'll gamin.
might for Il proper remuneration IN
tcrprct the meaning of these word
and what acts it takes to amount t.
what the words denote. Such cvi
dcncc, however, might not hc rcllahl"
and certainly no provision is made Il"
an Interpreter OF foreign or slam:
words: Courts cannot take judlcia
knowledge Of the meaning thereof.
For these reasons the prisoner r"ul'
not have been legally convicted OF N
oticn>c under an Indictment whicl
charges in such indefinite terms.
Thirdly. for the reasons above >tatet
the Indictment does not, as the statute
requires, set forth the facts constitut